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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25726876">Hurts Less than Before</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/26stars/pseuds/26stars'>26stars</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AU August 2020 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AOS AU August 2020, Anit-vaxxers need not interact, Fluff, Foster Care, Gen, Hospital, Kid AU meeting, Shots/Vaccines - Freeform, Skye is still Mary, hospital au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:47:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>962</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25726876</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/26stars/pseuds/26stars</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Day 5 for AU August: Hospital AU+ this prompt: "you're sitting next to me at the doctor's watching me freak out. oh, i just am deathly afraid of needles and need to get a shot" </p><p>Kid Skye. Kid Lincoln. Hospital waiting room first meeting. :)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lincoln Campbell &amp; Skye | Daisy Johnson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AU August 2020 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860802</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>AOS AU August 2020, Women of the MCU</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hurts Less than Before</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/TomatoBookworm/gifts">TomatoBookworm</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So I know I don't go here and this is basically my first time writing anything for this pair, but this was the idea I got almost immediately after reading the prompt.</p><p>For Tomato bc I don't say thank you for existing often enough &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mary was tall enough now that her feet touched the ground when she sat on the bench in the outpatient clinic waiting room, but she had propped her hands beneath her knees so that her feet were just far enough from the ground that she could swing them back and forth. Eight years old was hardly grown, but she was determined to “be a big girl,” if only for the sake of the other children sitting around her. If she had to guess, they were all here for the same reason—flu shots. Trouble was, Mary had never.ever.ever.been happy to be in a hospital, and it was a little hard to start faking it now.</p><p>Her foster mom, sitting two seats away trying to keep the two younger children entertained with some coloring books and crayons, was too distracted to notice how nervous Mary was. She stared at the TV in the corner of the room that was running a 24-hour news channel, chewed her lip, and swung her legs a little harder. She wasn’t sure if she was hoping to hear their name called next or never called. She would love to get out of this hospital as soon as possible. But ideally, she’d leave without getting stuck with a needle first.</p><p>“Hi.”</p><p>A young voice pulled her attention down from the TV, down to the person sitting across the aisle from her. It was a blond-haired boy who looked about her age, and he was sitting next to a woman who was holding a small girl on her knee while trying to teach her to tie her shoes.</p><p>“What’s your name?” the boy asked. He was missing three teeth where she could see.</p><p>“Mary,” she answered, studying the scabby knees she could see through the rips in his otherwise-clean jeans.</p><p>“I’m Lincoln,” he said. “How old are you?”</p><p>She ignored the question. “Lincoln, like the president?”</p><p>The boy shook his head. “No, like the car.” Skye cocked her head, confused, and the boy continued. “Well, that’s what my dad says when he hears someone joke about my name. He said that after my mom named me Lincoln, he told her that he was picking the name for the next kid. So my sister’s name is Amanda, after our Grandma. And it’s easy to spell. No sneaky L’s in the middle.”</p><p>“Mary’s easy to spell too,” she volunteered. “Short and sweet.”</p><p>Her mom didn’t say that, but her teachers had, and she guessed that was about the same thing.</p><p>“You look really nervous,” the boy said next, and Mary crossed her arms.</p><p>“I’m not.”</p><p>“Are you waiting to get a flu shot?” he asked knowingly, and she looked away. She might have also turned a different color then, because the boy immediately seemed concerned.</p><p>“It’s ok, flu shots don’t hurt very much,” he said quickly. “I kind of remember from last year. The nurse told me to close my eyes and pinch my ear until she said so, and then when I asked her when she’d do the shot, she said she’d already done it. I didn’t even notice until she put the band-aid on.”</p><p>“Really?” Mary asked, cautiously optimistic. “Maybe I’ll try that.”</p><p>“I’m going to be a doctor someday,” Lincoln said proudly. “Like my dad.”</p><p>Mary felt her already-faint smile fade. “Cool.”</p><p>“What do you want to be?” he asked next, not noticing her reaction.</p><p>“I don’t know,” Mary said honestly. She generally had trouble thinking past her next foster placement.</p><p>“Tomlinson?” a voice at the door suddenly called, and her foster mother stood up quickly.</p><p>“Here!”</p><p>Mary was immediately distracted by the bustle of packing up crayons and coloring books and getting children to their feet, and she trailed along as her foster mother led them all towards the woman in scrubs waiting at the door.</p><p>“Remember, pinch your ear!” Lincoln called after her, and Mary turned to wave at him before her family went through a set of doors and into a more private area.</p><p>They were set up on a bed with a curtain around it, where a nurse took down their information and said a doctor would be with them shortly. Mary was put to work helping the smaller children take off their coats, and when a woman in a white coat finally appeared, Mary had lost all her barely-accumulated confidence already.</p><p>“Good morning everyone, I’m Dr. Chen,” the doctor said, re-closing the curtain after she’d stepped around it. “We’re all here for flu shots today?”</p><p>Mary attempted to tune out everything and just wait quietly for her turn, but unfortunately, she was volunteered to go first (possibly so that her mom could spend as little time as possible holding crying children…</p><p>“Ok Mary, I’m going to put this on your skin to make sure it’s clean,” the doctor explained as she dabbed alcohol on her upper arm, “and I want you to close your eyes and pinch your ear as hard as you can until I tell you to open your eyes.”</p><p><em>Huh. Maybe that kid was unto something, </em>Mary thought, following the doctor’s instructions and bracing herself.</p><p>“Ok, you can open your eyes now,” the doctor said, suddenly smoothing a band-aid over her arm. “Good job. Who’s next?”</p><p>
  <em>Wait, what?</em>
</p><p>When Mary, happily licking a lollipop, followed her mom and the other children back through the waiting room only a few minutes later, Lincoln was still sitting on the bench with his mom and sister. He made a face at her like he was asking a question, and Mary gave him a big grin and a thumbs up.</p><p>He sent one back her way with a grin, and Mary was still smiling when she stepped out into the autumn sun.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Raise your hand if you got the Dr. Chen reference ;)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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